Human-machine-interface and method for manipulating data in a machine vision system

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that operates in connection with a machine vision detector or other machine vision system, which provides a highly intuitive and industrial machine-like appearance and layout. The GUI includes a centralized image frame window surrounded by panes having buttons and specific interface components that the user employs in each step of a machine vision system set up and run procedure. One pane allows the user to view and manipulate a recorded filmstrip of image thumbnails taken in a sequence, and provides the filmstrip with specialized highlighting (colors or patterns) that indicate useful information about the underlying images. The programming of logic is performed using a programming window that includes a ladder logic arrangement.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of commonly assigned copending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/616,726, filed Dec. 27, 2006, entitledHUMAN-MACHINE-INTERFACE AND METHOD FOR MANIPULATING IN A MACHINE VISIONSYSTEM, which is a continuation-in-part of commonly assigned copendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/138,025 which was filed, May 26,2005, by William M. Silver, et al., for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FORAUTOMATIC VISUAL DETECTION, RECORDING, AND RETRIEVAL OF EVENTS, which isa continuation-in-part of commonly assigned, copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/059,512, which was filed Feb. 16, 2005, byWilliam M. Silver, et al., for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICVISUAL DETECTION, RECORDING, AND RETRIEVAL OF EVENTS, which is acontinuation-in-part of commonly assigned, copending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/865,155, which was filed on Jun. 9, 2004, byWilliam M. Silver for a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION ANDINSPECTION OF OBJECT, the teachings of which are all hereby incorporatedby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is related to machine vision systems and moreparticularly to graphical user interfaces employed in the setup andoperation of machine vision systems, and the functions carried out bysuch machine vision systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Machine vision systems are used for a growing variety of manufacturingand inspection processes in research and industry. A machine visionsystem enables a user to monitor subject parts and workpieces, either atstationary locations or on moving lines, and to compare acquired imagesof the subjects to trained patterns, stored in a memory. All machinevision systems employ a camera with an image-acquisition sensor. Thesensor may be based upon a charge-coupled device (CCD) or CMOS elementthat breaks down an optical image into a matrix of pixels, each pixelbeing represented by a grayscale or color value within a given range(0-255, for example). Machine vision is used to accomplish a number ofdifferent industrial, commercial and governmental tasks. For example,machine vision can be employed to decode symbology, such as barcodes andtwo-dimensional data matrices. Machine vision is also commonly employedto scan for defects in a part or surface. Sophisticated search andanalysis software tools, in combination with powerful processors, areprovided for many of these qualitative analysis functions. More basicimplementations of machine vision systems have recently become availableto replace older-style opto-electric detectors (sometimes termed“electric-eyes”) that have been used for many years on production linesto sense for the gross presence or absence of an item on the line, or amajor defect (e.g. a missing component) in an item. Where a gross defector missing article is detected, the detector signals an alarm and/orstops the conveyor line. The detector may operate based upon a triggersignal, provided by another opto-electric presence sensor, or based uponthe timing of the moving line, which is signaled by (for example) anencoder. The detector may also cause a reject device (a “part kicker”)to eject a given article from the line.

An implementation of such a detector, termed a vision detector isdescribed in commonly assigned, copending U.S. Published PatentApplication No. US200550275831A1 (U.S. application Ser. No. 10/865,155),entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION AND INSPECTION OFOBJECTS, by William M. Silver, the teachings of which are expresslyincorporated by reference (and other related applications thereto). Thevision detector employs a low-cost, high-speed image element to captureand analyze a sequence of images at higher speeds (but typically atlower resolution) than prior art vision systems. An image in such asequence that is captured and analyzed is called a frame. The rate atwhich frames are captured and analyzed, called the frame rate, issufficiently high that a moving object is seen in multiple consecutiveframes as it passes through the field of view (FOV). Since the objectsmoves somewhat between successive frames, it is located in multiplepositions in the FOV, and therefore it is seen from multiple viewingperspectives and positions relative to the illumination. Using aprinciple termed dynamic image analysis, viewed objects are inspected bycapturing and analyzing multiple frames for which the object is locatedin the field of view, and basing a result on a combination of evidenceobtained from each of those frames. This method provides significantadvantages over prior art machine vision systems that make decisionsbased on a single frame. The incorporated vision detector enables visualevent detection, in which events that may occur in the field of view areidentified by the system. An event can be an object passing through thefield of view, and by using visual event detection the object can bedetected without the need for a trigger signal.

In order to obtain images from multiple perspectives, it is desirablethat an object to be detected or inspected moves no more than a smallfraction of the field of view between successive frames, often no morethan a few pixels. For a vision detector, it is generally desirable thatthe object motion be no more than about one-quarter of the FOV perframe, and in typical embodiments no more than 5% or less of the FOV. Itis desirable that this be achieved not by slowing down a manufacturingprocess but by providing a sufficiently high frame rate. In an examplesystem the frame rate is at least 200 frames/second, and in anotherexample the frame rate is at least 40 times the average rate at whichobjects are presented to the vision detector. An exemplary visiondetector system capture and analyze up to 500 frames/second. This systemmakes use of an ultra-sensitive imager that has far fewer pixels thanprior art vision systems. The high sensitivity allows very short shuttertimes using very inexpensive LED illumination, which in combination withthe relatively small number of pixels allows very short image capturetimes. The imager is interfaced to a digital signal processor (DSP) thatcan receive and store pixel data simultaneously with analysisoperations. Using a suitable software for the DSP, the time to analyzeeach frame generally can be kept to within the time needed to capturethe next frame. The capture and analysis methods and apparatus combineto provide the desired high frame rate. By carefully matching thecapabilities of the imager, DSP, and illumination with the objectives ofthe invention, the exemplary system can be significantly less expensivethan prior art machine vision systems.

The method of visual event detection involves capturing a sequence offrames and analyzing each frame to determine evidence that an event isoccurring or has occurred. When visual event detection is used to detectobjects without the need for a trigger signal, the analysis woulddetermine evidence that an object is located in the field of view.

In an exemplary method, the evidence is in the form of a value, calledan object detection weight, that indicates a level of confidence that anobject is located in the field of view. The value may be a simple yes/nochoice that indicates high or low confidence, a number that indicates arange of levels of confidence, or any item of information that conveysevidence. One example of such a number is a so-called fuzzy logic value,further described therein. Note that no machine can make a perfectdecision from an image, and so will instead make judgments based onimperfect evidence.

When performing object detection, a test is performed for each frame todecide whether the evidence is sufficient that an object is located inthe field of view. If a simple yes/no value is used, the evidence may beconsidered sufficient if the value is “yes.” If a number is used,sufficiency may be determined by comparing the number to a threshold.Frames where the evidence is sufficient are called active frames. Notethat what constitutes sufficient evidence is ultimately defined by ahuman user who configures the vision detector based on an understandingof the specific application at hand. The vision detector automaticallyapplies that definition in making its decisions.

When performing object detection, each object passing through the fieldof view will produce multiple active frames due to the high frame rateof the vision detector. These frames may not be strictly consecutive,however, because as the object passes through the field of view theremay be some viewing perspectives, or other conditions, for which theevidence that the object is located in the field of view is notsufficient. Therefore it is desirable that detection of an object beginswhen an active frame is found, but does not end until a number ofconsecutive inactive frames are found. This number can be chosen asappropriate by a user.

Once a set of active frames has been found that may correspond to anobject passing through the field of view, the system typically performsa further analysis to determine whether an object has indeed beendetected. This further analysis may consider some statistics of theactive frames, including the number of active frames, the sum of theobject detection weights, the average object detection weight, and thelike.

The above-described method of dynamic image analysis involves capturingand analyzing multiple frames to inspect an object, where “inspect” isdefined as determining some information about the status of the object.In one example, the status of an object includes whether or not theobject satisfies inspection criteria chosen as appropriate by a user.

Dynamic image analysis can be combined with visual event detection, sothat the active frames chosen by the visual event detection method arethe ones used by the dynamic image analysis method to inspect theobject. In an exemplary implementation, the frames used by dynamic imageanalysis can be captured in response to a trigger signal.

Each such frame is analyzed to determine evidence that the objectsatisfies the inspection criteria. In one exemplary method, the evidenceis in the form of a value, called an object pass score, which indicatesa level of confidence that the object satisfies the inspection criteria.As with object detection weights, the value may be a simple yes/nochoice that indicates high or low confidence, a number, such as a fuzzylogic value, that indicates a range of levels of confidence, or any itemof information that conveys evidence.

The status of the object may be determined from statistics of the objectpass scores, such as an average or percentile of the object pass scores.The status may also be determined by weighted statistics, such as aweighted average or weighted percentile, using the object detectionweights. Weighted statistics effectively weigh evidence more heavilyfrom frames wherein the confidence is higher that the object is actuallylocated in the field of view for that frame.

Evidence for object detection and inspection is obtained by examining aframe for information about one or more visible features of the object.A visible feature is a portion of the object wherein the amount,pattern, or other characteristic of emitted light conveys informationabout the presence, identity, or status of the object. Light can beemitted by any process or combination of processes, including but notlimited to reflection, transmission, or refraction of a source externalor internal to the object, or directly from a source internal to theobject.

One aspect of the above-described vision detector is a method forobtaining evidence, including object detection weights and object passscores, by image analysis operations on one or more regions of interestin each frame for which the evidence is needed. In an example of thismethod, the image analysis operation computes a measurement based on thepixel values in the region of interest, where the measurement isresponsive to some appropriate characteristic of a visible feature ofthe object. The measurement is converted to a logic value by a thresholdoperation, and the logic values obtained from the regions of interestare combined to produce the evidence for the frame. The logic values canbe binary or fuzzy logic values, with the thresholds and logicalcombination being binary or fuzzy as appropriate.

For visual event detection, evidence that an object is located in thefield of view is effectively defined by the regions of interest,measurements, thresholds, logical combinations, and other parameters,which are collectively called the configuration of the vision detector,and are chosen by a user as appropriate for a given application of theinvention. Similarly, the configuration of the vision detector defineswhat constitutes sufficient evidence. For dynamic image analysis,evidence that an object satisfies the inspection criteria is alsoeffectively defined by the configuration of the vision detector.

In general, the vision detector is optimally adapted to perform thefunction of conventional opto-electric detectors. While most of thesefunctions could be performed by a standard machine vision system, thevision detector is less expensive and easier to set up than prior artmachine vision systems, and operate at much higher speeds. These systemsand methods furthermore make use of multiple perspectives of movingobjects, operate without triggers, provide appropriately synchronizedoutput signals, and provide other significant and useful capabilitiesthat will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The above-described vision detectors, as well as other machine visionapplications, such as readers of symbology (barcodes, etc.), inspectiontools and facial identification systems, are generally set up,monitored, adjusted and “debugged” using Human-machine interfaces (HMIs)that employ a graphical user interface (GUI). Once set up, the visiondetector and a variety of other stand-alone machine vision systems canoften be disconnected from the HMI. Nevertheless, the HMI performs acritical role in the configuration of the system and subsequent analysisof system performance and ability to detect objects and their underlyingfeatures. The HMI also allows for monitoring and fault analysis inimplementations wherein the detector or other vision system recordsevents and allows playback of the recordings. For these and otherpurposes, a user-friendly, fully featured and versatile HMI is highlydesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention overcomes the disadvantages of prior art systems andmethods by providing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that operates on aHuman-Machine Interface (HMI), such as a PC, in connection with amachine vision detector or other machine vision system, which provides ahighly intuitive and industrial machine-like appearance and layout. TheGUI includes a centralized image frame window surrounded by panes havingbuttons and specific interface components that the user employs in eachstep of a machine vision system set up and run a new machine vision job.One pane allows the user to view and manipulate a recorded filmstrip ofimage thumbnails taken in a sequence, and provides the filmstrip withspecialized highlighting (colors or patterns) that indicate usefulinformation about the underlying images. The filmstrip is provided withcontrols to record, playback and scroll through thumbnails that aresimulative of consumer video recording appliances to provide amore-intuitive interface. The filmstrip controls include a selector thatallows the user to switch between image modes.

The vision system is set up and run using a sequential series of buttonsor switches that are activated by the user in a predefined order toperform each of the steps needed (typically) to create a new machinevision job including: connect to a vision system; train the system torecognize or detect objects/parts; configure the logic that is used tohandle recognition/detection signals; set up system outputs from thesystem based upon the logical results; and finally, run and test theprogrammed system in real time. The programming of logic is performedusing a programming window that includes a ladder logic arrangement.Three default rungs are provided. The default rungs include contactsthat provide, respectively, an ANDing of all recognition/detectionresults, an ORing of these results, and a general object/part detectionsignal. The user can define additional rungs. The contacts for each rungcan be based upon output coils of previous rungs or uponrecognition/detection results. The contacts can be clicked upon thedisplay properties and allow those properties to be changed. A thumbnailwindow is provided on the programming window in which an image from afilmstrip is displayed, focusing upon the locations of the image (andunderlying viewed object/part) in which the selected contact element isprovided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention description below refers to the accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary implementation of a machine visiondetector system to which the teachings of this invention are applicable;

FIG. 2 is a timing diagram that illustrates a typical operating cyclefor the exemplary vision detector system of FIG. 1 using visual eventdetection;

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram that illustrates a typical operating cyclefor the exemplary vision detector system of FIG. 1 using a triggersignal;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the organization of software elements usedto analyze image frames, make judgments, sense inputs and control outputsignals in conjunction with the exemplary vision detector system of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an exemplary HMI display image view used toconfigure the exemplary machine vision detector system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an exemplary HMI display ladder logic view usedto configure the exemplary machine vision detector system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a somewhat schematic diagram of an exemplary HMI graphicaluser-interface (GUI) display including an image view and a framefilmstrip viewer used to configure, monitor and adjust the exemplarymachine vision detector system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a GUI display in the initial vision detectorconnect mode according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a save-filmstrip window selected from the GUIdisplay of FIG. 8;

FIG. 9A is a diagram of a save-filmstrip window selected from the GUIdisplay of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a filmstrip frame rate drop-down box selected from the GUIdisplay of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a filmstrip frame information window selected using aninformation button on the GUI display of FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 is a diagram of the filmstrip display including color-codedframes of the GUI according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram of the GUI display in the vision detector setupmode according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram of the GUI display in the logic setup modeaccording to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 14A is a diagram of a separate, enlarged logic programming windowthat can be called up in the logic setup mode of the GUI displayaccording to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram of the logic programming window of FIG. 14 showinga plurality of features available to a user in defining a logic rung;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of the logic programming window of FIG. 14 showinga completed user-defined logic rung and corresponding assignment of anoutput/result coil to the rung;

FIG. 17 is a diagram of the GUI display in the setting-up of outputsmode according to an illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 18 is a diagram of the GUI display in the display and recordconfiguration mode, just prior to run mode, according to an illustrativeembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A. Implementation of an Exemplary Machine VisionDetector

FIG. 1 shows an example of an exemplary machine vision system to whichthe teachings of this invention may be applied. The system is a visiondetector system 100 as described above, and as set forth generally inthe above-incorporated, U.S. Published Patent Application No.US200550275831A1, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION ANDINSPECTION OF OBJECTS, by William M. Silver. It should be noted that,while this Description references a vision detector as the exemplaryoperative machine vision implementation, the teachings of an HMIdescribed and claimed herein are expressly applicable to a wide range ofvision systems. Thus, the HMI functions and layout described hereinshould be taken as broadly applicable to any system requiring setup,monitoring, feedback of inspection data and the like. Such systemsinclude, but are not limited to, the exemplary vision detector, a morecomplete machine vision inspection system, identification systems, andsymbology readers.

As shown, the system 100 is inspecting objects 110 on a production line.A conveyor 102 transports the objects 110 to cause relative movementbetween the objects 110 and the field of view of vision detector 106.Objects 110, 112, 114, 116, and 118 move left to right on the conveyor100. Each object is expected to contain certain features—for example, alabel 120 and a hole 124. Objects incorrectly manufactured may bemissing one or more features, or may have unintended features; forexample, object 116 is missing the hole 124. On many production linesmotion of the conveyer is tracked by a shaft encoder 180. The visiondetector 106 detects the presence of an object by visual appearance andinspects it based on appropriate inspection criteria. If an object isdefective, the vision detector 106 sends a signal over link 126 to areject actuator 170 to remove (arrow 172) the object 116 from theconveyer stream as shown. The encoder 180 sends signal over link 124 tothe vision detector 106, which uses it to insure proper delay of signal(on link 126) from the encoder count where the object crosses somefixed, imaginary reference point 130, called the mark point. If anencoder is not used, the delay can be based on time instead.

In an alternate implementation, the vision detector sends signals to aprogrammable logic controller (PLC) for various purposes, which mayinclude controlling a reject actuator (170).

FIG. 2 shows a timeline that illustrates a typical operating cycle for avision detector in visual event detection mode. Boxes labeled “c”, suchas box 220, represent image capture. Boxes labeled “a”, such as box 230,represent image analysis. It is desirable that capture “c” of the nextimage be overlapped with analysis “a” of the current image, so that (forexample) analysis step 230 analyzes the image captured in capture step220. In this timeline, analysis is shown as taking less time thancapture, but in general, analysis will be shorter or longer than capturedepending on the application details.

If capture and analysis are overlapped, the rate at which a visiondetector can capture and analyze images is determined by the longer ofthe capture time and the analysis time. This is the “frame rate”.

The vision detector of this example allows objects to be detectedreliably without a trigger signal, such as that provided by aphotodetector. Referring to FIG. 1, there is no trigger signal toindicate the presence of an object, and in FIG. 2 there is nocorresponding trigger step.

Referring again to FIG. 2, a portion 200 of the timeline corresponds tothe inspection of a first object, and contains the capture and analysisof seven frames. A second portion 210 corresponds to the inspection of asecond object, and contains five frames.

Each analysis step first considers the evidence that an object ispresent. Frames where the evidence is sufficient are called active.Analysis steps for active frames are shown with a thick border, forexample analysis step 240. In an illustrative embodiment, inspection ofan object begins when an active frame is found, and ends when somenumber of consecutive inactive frames are found. In the example of FIG.2, inspection of the first object begins with the first active framecorresponding to analysis step 240, and ends with two consecutiveinactive frames, corresponding to analysis steps 246 and 248. Note thatfor the first object, a single inactive frame corresponding to analysisstep 242 is not sufficient to terminate the inspection.

At the time that inspection of an object is complete, for example at theend of the analysis steps, decisions are made on the status of theobject based on the evidence obtained from the active frames. In anillustrative embodiment, if an insufficient number of active frames werefound then there is considered to be insufficient evidence that anobject was actually present, and so operation continues as if no activeframes were found. Otherwise an object is judged to have been detected,and evidence from the active frames is judged in order to determine itsstatus, for example pass or fail. Once an object has been detected and ajudgment made, a report may be made to appropriate automation equipment,such as a PLC, using signals well-known in the art. In such a case areport step would appear in the timeline. The example of FIG. 2corresponds instead to a setup such as shown in FIG. 1, where the visiondetector is used to control a downstream reject actuator 170. Byconsidering the position of the object in the active frames as it passesthrough the field of view, the vision detector estimates the mark time250 and 252 at which the object crosses the mark point 130. Note that incases where an encoder 180 is used, the mark time is actually an encodercount; the reader will understand that time and count can be usedinterchangeably. A report 260, consisting of a pulse of appropriateduration to the reject actuator 170, is issued after a precise delay 270in time or encoder count from the mark time 250.

Note that the report 260 may be delayed well beyond the inspection ofsubsequent objects such as 210. The vision detector uses well-knownfirst-in first-out (FIFO) buffer methods to hold the reports until theappropriate time.

Once inspection of an object is complete, the vision detector may enteran idle step 280. Such a step is optional, but may be desirable forseveral reasons. If the maximum object rate is known, there is no needto be looking for an object until just before a new one is due. An idlestep will eliminate the chance of false object detection at times whenan object couldn't arrive, and will extend the lifetime of theillumination system because the lights can be kept off during the idlestep (280).

FIG. 3 shows a timeline that illustrates a typical operating cycle for avision detector in external trigger mode. A trigger step 320 beginsinspection of a first object 300. A sequence of image capture steps 330,332, and 334, and corresponding analysis steps 340, 342, and 344 areused for dynamic image analysis. As in visual event detection mode, itis desirable that the frame rate be sufficiently high that the objectmoves a small fraction of the field of view between successive frames,often no more than a few pixels per frame. After a fixed number offrames, the number being chosen based on application details, theevidence obtained from analysis of the frames is used to make a finaljudgment on the status of the object, which in one embodiment isprovided to automation equipment in a report step 350. Following thereport step, an idle step 360 is entered until the next trigger step 370that begins inspection of a second object 310.

In another embodiment, the report step is delayed in a manner equivalentto that shown in FIG. 2. In this example, the mark time 380 is the time(or encoder count) corresponding to the trigger step 320.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the vision detector 106 is coupled via a link160 to a human-machine interface (HMI) in accordance with the teachingsof this invention, which, in this example is provided on a laptop ordesktop personal computer (PC) 162, with a display 164. The display 164is driven by hardware and software within the PC 162, using circuits,applications and procedures known to those of ordinary skill. Thedisplay 164 provides a visual representation of a graphical userinterface (GUI) in accordance with this invention. The GUI can bemanipulated by a keyboard 166, mouse or other device, such as atouchscreen. The HMI and GUI are employed to monitor, configure and testthe system as described in detail below.

B. Exemplary Vision Detection Software

FIGS. 4-7 are shown by way of background to illustrate software and abasic HMI graphical user interface (GUI) elements that may be employedin conjunction with the exemplary vision detection system 100. These andother related elements are described in commonly assigned, co-pendingU.S. Published Patent Application No. US20050276459A1, entitled Methodand apparatus for configuring and testing a machine vision detector, byAndrew Eames, et al., the teachings of which are expressly incorporatedherein by reference. FIG. 4 particularly shows an exemplary organizationof a set of software elements (e.g., program instructions of acomputer-readable medium) used by the exemplary system 100 to analyzeacquired image frames, make judgments, sense inputs, and control outputsignals. The elements may be implemented using a class hierarchy in aconventional object-oriented programming language such as C++, so thateach of the elements corresponds to a class. However, any acceptableprogramming technique and/or language can be used to carry out theprocesses described herein.

As illustrated, classes with a dotted border, such as Gadget class 400,are abstract base classes that do not exist by themselves but are usedto build concrete derived classes such as Locator class 420. Classeswith a solid border represent dynamic objects that can be created anddestroyed as needed by the user in setting up an application, using anHMI in accordance with this invention. Classes with a dashed border,such as Input class 450, represent static objects associated withspecific hardware or software resources. Static objects always exist andcannot be created or destroyed by the user.

All classes are derived from Gadget class 400, and so all objects thatare instances of the classes shown in FIG. 9 are a kind of Gadget. Inthis example, every Gadget:

-   -   1. has a name that can be chosen by the user;    -   2. has a logic output (a fuzzy logic value) that can be used as        a logic input by other gadgets to make judgments and control        output signals;    -   3. has a set of parameters than can be configured by a user to        specify its operation;    -   4. has a parameter that can be used to invert the logic output        (i.e. fuzzy NOT); and    -   5. can be run, which causes its logic output to be updated based        on its parameters, logic inputs if any, and for certain Gadgets        the contents of the current frame, and which may also cause        side-effects such as the setting of an output signal.

The act of analyzing a frame consists of running each Gadget once, in anorder determined to guarantee that all logic inputs to a Gadget havebeen updated before the Gadget is run. In some implementations, a Gadgetis not run during a frame where its logic output is not needed.

The Photo class 410 is the base class for all Gadgets whose logic outputdepends on the contents of the current frame. These are the classes thatactually do the image analysis. Every Photo measures some characteristicof a region of interest (ROI) of the current frame. The ROI correspondsto a visible feature on the object to be inspected. This measurement iscalled the Photo's analog output. The Photo's logic output is computedfrom the analog output by means of a fuzzy threshold, called thesensitivity threshold, which is among its set of parameters that can beconfigured by a user. The logic output of a Photo can be used to provideevidence to be used in making judgments.

The exemplary Detector class 430 is the base class for Photos whoseprimary purpose is to make measurements in an ROI and provide evidenceto be used in making judgments about an object or feature thereon. Inthis example, all Detector ROIs are defined by circles. A circular ROIsimplifies the implementation because there is no need to deal withrotation, and having only one ROI shape simplifies what the user has tolearn. Detector parameters include the position and diameter of the ROI.

A Brightness Detector 440 measures a weighted average or percentilebrightness in the ROI. A Contrast Detector 442 measures contrast in theROI. An Edge Detector 444 measures the extent to which the ROI lookslike an edge in a specific direction. A Spot Detector 446 measures theextent to which the ROI looks like a round feature such as a hole. ATemplate Detector 448 measures the extent to which the ROI looks like apre-trained pattern selected by a user. The operation of the Detectorsis further described below.

The Locator class 420 represents Photos that have two primary purposes.The first is to produce a logic output that can provide evidence formaking judgments, and in this they can be used like any Detector. Thesecond is to determine the location of an object in the field of view ofa vision detector, so that the position of the ROI of other Photos canbe moved so as to track the position of the object. Any Locator can beused for either or both purposes.

In this example, a Locator searches a one-dimensional range in a framefor an edge. The search direction is normal (perpendicular) to the edge,and is among the parameters to be configured by the user. The analogoutput of a Locator is similar to that for an Edge Detector. Locatorsare further described below.

The Input class 450 represents input signals to the vision detector,such as an external trigger. The Output class 452 represents outputsignals from the vision detector, such as might be used to control areject actuator 170 (via link 126 in FIG. 1). There is one staticinstance of the Input class for each physical input, such as exemplaryinput signal (such as the encoder signal on link 124 in FIG. 1) and onestatic instance of the Output class for each physical output.

The Gate base class 460 implements fuzzy logic decision-making Each Gatehas one or more logic inputs than can be connected to the logic outputsof other Gadgets. Each logic input can be inverted (fuzzy NOT) by meansof a parameter that a user can configure. An AND Gate 462 implements afuzzy AND operation, and an OR Gate 464 implements a fuzzy OR operation.

The Judge class 470 is the base class for two static objects, theObjectDetect Judge 472 and the ObjectPass Judge 474. Judges implementdynamic image analysis by weighing evidence over successive frames tomake the primary decisions. Each Judge has a logic input to which a userconnects the logic output of a Photo or, more typically, a Gate thatprovides a logical combination of Gadgets, usually Photos and otherGates.

The ObjectDetect Judge 472 decides if an object has been detected, andthe ObjectPass Judge 474 decides if it passes inspection. The logicinput to the ObjectDetect Judge provides the object detection weight foreach frame, and the logic input to the ObjectPass Judge provides theobject pass score for each frame.

The logic output of the ObjectDetect Judge provides a pulse thatindicates when a judgment has been made. In one mode of operation,called “output when processing”, the leading edge of the pulse occurswhen the inspection of an object begins, for example at the end ofanalysis step 240 in FIG. 2, and the trailing edge occurs when theinspection of an object is complete, for example at the end of analysisstep 248. In another mode, called “output when done”, the leading edgeof the pulse occurs when the inspection of an object is complete, forexample at the end of analysis step 248 in FIG. 2, and the trailing edgeoccurs some time after that, for example at the end of idle step 280.

The logic output of the ObjectPass Judge provides a level that indicateswhether the most-recently inspected object passed. The level changesstate when the inspection of an object is complete, for example at theend of analysis step 248.

FIG. 5 shows an example of how Photos can be used to inspect an object.It illustrates an image 500 of an object 110 (FIG. 1), containing theabove-described label feature 120 and hole feature 124 as respectiveimage elements 510 and 512. The image also includes superimposedgraphics representing the Photos as they would be displayed on an HMIGUI for a user to view and manipulate. The display of an image andsuperimposed graphics on the GUI is called an image view.

The exemplary object, represented by the image 500 of the object in thisexample contains six visible features to be inspected, corresponding tothe two Locators and four Detectors now further described. One Locator520 is used to detect and locate the top edge of the object, and anotherLocator 522 is used to detect and locate the right edge.

A Brightness Detector 530 is used to help detect the presence of theobject. In this example the background is brighter than the object, andthe sensitivity threshold is set to distinguish the two brightnesslevels, with the logic output inverted to detect the darker object andnot the brighter background. Together, the Locators 520 and 522, and theBrightness Detector 530, provide the evidence needed to judge that anobject has been detected, as further described below.

A Contrast Detector 540 is used to detect the presence of the hole 512.When the hole 512 is absent the contrast would be very low, and whenpresent, the contrast would be much higher. A Spot Detector could alsobe used.

An Edge Detector 560 is used to detect the presence and position of thelabel 510. If the label is absent, mispositioned horizontally, orsignificantly rotated, the analog output of the Edge Detector would bevery low.

A Brightness Detector 550 is used to verify that the correct label hasbeen applied. In this example, the correct label is white and incorrectlabels are darker colors.

As the object moves from left to right through the field of view of thevision detector, Locator 522 tracks the right edge of the object andrepositions Brightness Detector 530, Contrast Detector 540, BrightnessDetector 550, and Edge Detector 560 to be at the correct side-to-side(horizontal) position relative to the object. Locator 520 corrects forany variation in the vertical position of the object in the field ofview, repositioning the detectors based on the location of the top edgeof the object. In general Locators can be oriented in any direction.

A user can manipulate Photos in an image view by using well-known HMItechniques. For example, a Photo can be selected by clicking with amouse, and its ROI can be moved, resized, and rotated by dragging.

FIG. 6 shows a logic view containing a wiring diagram (also termed“ladder logic”) corresponding to the exemplary setup of FIG. 5 anddescribed in the above-incorporated Method and apparatus for configuringand testing a machine vision detector. The wiring diagram shows allGadgets being used to inspect objects and interface to automationequipment, and the connections between logic inputs and outputs of theGadgets. A wiring diagram is displayed on the HMI GUI at selected timesfor a user to view and manipulate. A display of gadgets and their logicinterconnections on an HMI is called a logic view.

Referring further to the wiring diagram of FIG. 6, a Locator 620 named“Top”, corresponding to Locator 520 in the image view of FIG. 5, isconnected to AND Gate 610 by wire 624. Similarly, “Side” Locator 622,corresponding to Locator 522, and “Box” Detector 630, corresponding toBrightness Detector 530, are also wired to the AND Gate 610. The logicoutput of “Box” Detector 630 is inverted, as shown by the small bubble632, and as described above to detect the darker object against alighter background.

The logic output of AND Gate 610 represents the level of confidence thatthe top edge of the object has been detected, the right edge of theobject has been detected, and the background has not been detected. Whenall three conditions are true, confidence is high that the object itselfhas been detected. The logic output of AND Gate 610 is wired to theObjectDetect Judge 600 to be used as the object detection weight foreach frame.

Since the logic input to the ObjectDetect Judge 600 in this case dependson the current frame, the vision detector is operating in visual eventdetection mode. To operate in external trigger mode, an Input Gadgetwould be wired to ObjectDetect. To operate in continuous analysis mode,nothing would be wired to ObjectDetect.

The choice of Gadgets to wire to ObjectDetect is made by a user based onknowledge of the application. In the example of FIGS. 5 and 6, a usermay have determined that detecting just the top and right edges was notsufficient to insure that an object is present. Note that Locator 522might respond to the label's left edge just as strongly as the object'sright edge, and perhaps at this point in the production cycle Locator520 might occasionally find some other edge in the background. By addingDetector 530, and requiring all three conditions by means of AND Gate610, object detection is made reliable.

In the wiring diagram, Contrast Detector “Hole” 640 corresponding toContrast Detector 540, Brightness Detector “Label” 650, corresponding toBrightness Detector 550, and Edge Detector “LabelEdge” 660,corresponding to Edge Detector 560, are wired to AND Gate 612. The logicoutput of AND Gate 612 represents the level of confidence that all threeimage features have been detected, and is wired to ObjectPass Judge 602to provide the object pass score for each frame.

The logic output of ObjectDetect Judge 600 is wired to AND Gate 670. Thelogic output of ObjectPass Judge 602 is inverted and also wired to ANDGate 670. The ObjectDetect Judge is set to “output when done” mode, so apulse appears on the logic output of ObjectDetect Judge 600 after anobject has been detected and inspection is complete. Since the logicoutput of ObjectPass 602 has been inverted, this pulse will appear onthe logic output of AND Gate 670 only if the object has not passedinspection. The logic output of AND Gate 670 is wired to an Outputgadget 680, named “Reject”, which controls an output signal from thevision detector than can be connected directly to a reject actuator 170(FIG. 1). The Output Gadget 680 is configured by a user to perform theappropriate delay needed by the downstream reject actuator to ensurethat the rejected object has moved downstream to a position at which theactuator is located from the detection position.

A user can manipulate Gadgets in a logic view by using well-known HMItechniques. For example, a Gadget can be selected by clicking with amouse, its position can be moved by dragging, and wires can be createdby a drag-drop operation.

To aid the user's understanding of the operation of the vision detector,Gadgets and/or wires can change their visual appearance to indicatefuzzy logic values. For example, Gadgets and/or wires can be displayedred when the logic value is below 0.5, and green otherwise. In FIG. 6,wires 604 and 672 are drawn with dashed lines to indicate a logic valuebelow 0.5, and other wires, for example wire 624, are drawn solid toindicate logic values equal to or greater than 0.5.

One skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of objects canbe detected and inspected by suitable choice, configuration, and wiringof Gadgets. One skilled in the art will also recognize that the Gadgetclass hierarchy is only one of many software techniques that could beused in this example.

C. Configuration and Testing of an Exemplary Vision Detection Software

An example of the configuration of a vision detector in accordance withFIG. 1 is now described. To configure this vision detection system 100to inspect objects, the set of objects 110, 112, 114, 116, and 118 arerepresentative of the objects to be inspected. The defective object 116is desirably included to show the system examples of flaws to bedetected.

The vision detector 400 captures a sequence of images of its field ofview. The system's imager captures images, which are stored in thesystem's memory 182. As explained above, the imager's frame rate issufficient to obtain multiple images of each object as it passes throughthe field of view. Furthermore, the memory is sufficiently large thatmultiple images from each of multiple objects can be stored.

In one embodiment, the memory 182 defines a ring (or another type)buffer with approximately 160 storage elements, which requires justunder two megabytes of storage, and which is capable of storing about0.8 seconds of a production run at 200 frames/second, or about 0.32seconds at 500 frames/second. Clearly, lower frame rates can be used toincrease the amount of time for which images can be stored. The ringbuffer continually replaces older stored frames with new ones in thesequence, remaining filled. Once image capture has terminated, the ringbuffer contains a sequence of images available for display for a humanuser.

Referring to FIG. 1, the vision detector may be connected to ahuman-machine interface (HMI) 162 via communications link 160, forpurposes of configuration. It is also possible for the HMI to be part ofthe vision detector 106, but this is less-preferred because the HMI isgenerally not needed for production use, and so one HMI can be sharedamong many vision detectors. The HMI in this example runs the graphicaluser interface (GUI) 164 of this invention, which is described in detailbelow. A fragmentary, simplified version of the GUI 164 is shown in FIG.7.

The GUI 164 allows a portion of the sequence of images (see image 700 inGUI window 780) of viewed objects stored in vision detector memory 182to be displayed for a human user. In the illustrative GUI 164, afilmstrip window 702 displays a plurality of thumbnail images 710, 712,714, 716, 720, 730, 732, 734, each thumbnail image being alow-resolution version of a corresponding image in sequence of images700. Generally, the thumbnail images correspond to consecutive images inthe sequence, for example displayed portion, but other arrangements maybe useful, such as skipping some number of images between thecorresponding thumbnails.

A set of scrolling controls 750 is provided in, or adjacent to, thefilmstrip window 702 for advancing the displayed portion 752 forward orbackward within the sequence of images 750. Next-image control 760advances displayed portion 752 forward by one image, and previous-imagecontrol 762 advances displayed portion 752 backward by one image. Thecontrols 764 and 766 are described in details below.

The thumbnail 720 displays a low-resolution image of object 500, whichmay correspond, for example, to the object 114 (FIG. 1). Object 500 alsoappears in thumbnails 716 and 730 at slightly different viewingperspectives (positions within the field of view), and is partiallypresent in thumbnails 710, 712, 714, 732 and 734. A second object image742, which may correspond for example to defective object 116, ispartially present in thumbnails 710 and 712. A third object 744, whichmay correspond for example to object 112, is partially present inthumbnail 734. By issuing scrolling commands using scrolling controls750, the user can advance the displayed portion 752 forward or backwardto see any viewing perspective of any object that has been captured, aswell as any other conditions that may be present in the image sensor'sfield of view during normal production.

In the illustrative GUI 164, the image corresponding to thumbnail 720,which is shown with a heavy outline, is also displayed at fullresolution in the image view window 780. As scrolling commands advancethe displayed portion forward and backward, different images will moveinto thumbnail 720, and be displayed at full resolution in image viewwindow 780.

To configure the vision detector, the user issues scrolling commandsuntil an image appears in image view window 780 that is suitable to useas a first training image. Generally, an image is suitable if the userjudges it to be sufficiently similar in appearance to the typicalobjects that will be inspected. Note that the object in image viewwindow 780, to object 740 in thumbnail 720. Once a first training imagehas been chosen, the user configures the vision detector by creating oneor more vision tools, for example Locators 520 and 522, ContrastDetector 540, Brightness Detector 550, and Edge Detector 560. In theillustrative GUI 164, a vision tool can be any Photo. The type,position, size, orientation, and operating parameters of each createdvision tool are chosen by the user to insure that objects similar inappearance to the object in the first training image can be detected andinspected.

Once a configuration has been created using the first training image, itis desirable to confirm and possibly adjust the configuration usingadditional training images. Scrolling commands can be issued to choose asecond training image, which will appear both in thumbnail 720 and imageview window 780. The second training image can be used simply to assessthe operation of previously created vision tools, or to update theconfiguration by creating additional vision tools, or adjusting theposition, size, orientation, and/or operating parameters of previouslycreated vision tools.

For example, the initial configuration created using the first trainingimage may not have included Brightness Detector 530, which as previouslydescribed is used in conjunction with Locators 520 and 522 to helpdetect the presence of the object. It may be that the user did notrealize, looking only at the first training image, that BrightnessDetector 530 would be needed. It may be that only by considering asecond training image, where an object is only partially present in thefield of view, or in which no object is present, could the userascertain that Brightness Detector 530 is needed to prevent falsedetection.

Similarly, it may be that a second training image corresponding to thedefective object 116, which is dissimilar in appearance to the typicalobjects to be inspected, is necessary to properly adjust ContrastDetector 540.

As will be made clearer below, the invention herein described can beused to configure any image analysis device, including prior art visionsystems of various types.

During the process of configuring a vision detector it is desirable totest the configuration more extensively than can be accomplished usingsecond training images to assess vision tool operation. It is furtherdesirable that such a test include a large number of objects, andcapture and store a limited number of images, where those imagescorrespond to objects likely to represent incorrect decisions. Similartests may also be desirable during actual production operation. It isdesirable that the production environment, including conveyer speed andambient illumination, be substantially the same during bothconfiguration and production operation. A primary difference between theproduction operation of FIG. 1 and configuration, is that the rejectactuator 170 is not receiving reject signals from vision detector duringconfiguration.

In an illustrative procedure used for testing a vision detector, thevision detector is initially configured for detecting and inspectingdiscrete objects. The vision detector may use visual event detection,operating as shown in FIG. 2, or an external trigger signal, operatingas shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 2, a group of seven frames starting with active frame240 and ending with inactive frame 248 (timeline portion 200) influencesthe detection and inspection of Object 1. Similarly, a group of fiveframes corresponding to timeline portion 210 influences the detectionand inspection of Object 2. If an object such as Object 1 or Object 2 islikely to be of interest to a human user, typically because it mightrepresent an incorrect decision, this implementation provides methodsand systems to store and display the frames in the group. For example,the group to be stored and displayed can include inactive frames such asframe 242 and terminating frames 246 and 248. In one example,terminating frames such as 246 and 248 are omitted from the group to bestored and displayed.

Referring to FIG. 3, where an external trigger is used, the group offrames to be stored and displayed for Object 1 includes all framescaptured and analyzed for that object, i.e. frames 340, 342 and 344.

As previously described, objects are analyzed to determine results thatcontain information about the status of the object. The results may beas simple as whether or not the object passes inspection. The resultscan include numbers that indicate a relative confidence that the objecthas been detected, and that it passes inspection. For example, one suchnumber may be the weighted average of object pass scores, where anobject is judged to pass inspection if that number exceeds some decisionthreshold, where the decision threshold is 0.5. Similarly, when usingvisual event detection, one such number may be the number of activeframes or the total object detection weight, which is compared to adecision threshold to determine if an object has been detected.

These results are used to determine if the group of frames for thecorresponding object might be of interest to a human user, in which casethey would be stored for subsequent display. The user may be interestedin all objects, or just those that pass or just those that do not pass.It is often most desirable to store and display images corresponding toobjects likely to represent incorrect decisions, because these representboth very rare occurrences, and situations most in need of carefulstudy. An incorrect decision is likely when numbers that indicate arelative confidence are close to the decision threshold.

The stored groups of frames is a set of images, a portion of which canbe displayed by a graphical user interface such as that shown in FIG. 7as described above. The scrolling controls 750 contain, in addition tonext image control 760 and previous image control 762, a next-groupcontrol 764 and previous group control 766, which advance the displayedportion forward and backward, respectively, by one group. These andother features of the GUI 164 will now be described in detail.

D. Graphical User Interface According to an Illustrative Embodiment

A view of the GUI 164 in accordance with an illustrative embodiment isprovided in FIG. 8. While the exemplary implementation is part of an HMIthat is interfaced with a machine vision detector system, this GUI canbe adapted to use with any acceptable machine vision system,particularly those that employ image views and play-back of storedimages in their configuration and/or operation. Thus the reference tothe machine vision detector system should be taken by way of example.

It should be understood by those of ordinary skill that the followingdescription of various layouts and functions attributed to the novelmachine vision GUI described herein can be implemented usingconventional programming techniques in any one of a variety ofcommercially available programming languages and/or environments.Accordingly, the following description is directed to the novel andconvenient layout of GUI interface elements and the functions that arecarried out using these elements. The underlying mechanisms used toperform the functions available on the GUI should be readilyprogrammable by those of ordinary skill, particularly when provided withthe teachings of this description and those teachings that areincorporated by reference herein.

The GUI 164 comprises a plurality of discrete windows, each of whichperforms a predetermined function, or group of functions. The upperstrip 810 includes information relating to the current status of the HMIconnection (name of the particular connected sensor(s)), the operativemode of the HMI (setup, test, run, etc.), the save-status of a currentjob, and indicators of object-specific-status (object-pass/fail,object-detect, etc). This status is displayed on the right side in theform of an “LED” style indicator strip 812 with simulated LEDs 813 and815 that indicate the state of certain user-defined inspection criteriadefined in boxes 814 and 816, respectively. This strip 812 is describedfurther below.

The center pane 820, beneath the upper strip 810 comprises the imageview window 780, described above. This window presents the current imageview, either during runtime, or playback of recorded images. The imageview window 780 can be sized appropriately to allow an adequate view ofthe subject. The image view window can be adapted to display a grayscaleor color image of the object as appropriate. As described below, theimage view window 780 displays a grayscale view in this example withpredetermined Locators and Detectors appearing in variable colors.

The left pane 820 of the GUI 164 extends along the side of the imageview window 780. The left pane contains a series of buttons that enablecontrol of the various basic functions and modes of the HMI. The buttonsare arrayed in a vertical orientation in this embodiment (although otherplacements and orientations are expressly contemplated), and definegenerally the steps needed to setup, configure and run a project in thelogical/sequential order normally encountered by a user. This makes theoverall setup, configuration and testing process easier for new andoccasional users. The buttons and their underlying functions aredescribed further below.

The right information pane 830 provides information to the user on avariety of topics including general help, the monitoring of functionsand statistics on a job. The respective functions are called up byclicking on one of the respective tabs 388, 835 and 837. These tab earaccessible during runtime and at any time during setup, and can beadapted to provide help tips and other information that is relevant tothe current mode, as indicated by the highlighted button in setup pane820.

The horizontal pane 838 below the window 780 and panes 820, 830 containsvariable information, dependent upon the selected function on the buttonpane 820. The lower control pane 831 includes a dialog box 832 thatprovides text appropriate to the selected functions. For example, thebox 832 presents instruction to proceed with a part of the setup orconfiguration task. The central box 834, adjacent the dialog box 832controls the present action taken by the user and reports upon resultingor requested status/information. Depending upon the current mode, thecentral box 834 extends across the full right side of the control pane831, or a relevant portion thereof. The depicted mode defines thesensors to which the HMI is connected. As such, the box 834 includes alist or menu 836 of the individual sensors (as well as anycomputer-simulated sensors) to which the HMI has been set-up torecognize. Note that the GUI employs the term “sensor” to describeelements from the above-referenced Detector Class. The box 834 alsocontains an action box 838 that sets up the connection with a selectedsensor in the menu 836. In the depicted mode, the right box 839 of thecontrol pane 831, allows the user to select a job to work upon. In thismode, the selections include a new job (button 840), an existing jobstored on the selected sensor (or simulated sensor) (button 842), or anexisting job that is stored on the HMI (button 844). Note that a job maybe stored on the HMI (PC in this example) as a file for simulation orsubsequent download to a sensor's memory.

The bottommost pane 848 includes the thumbnail display 850 and controlbuttons 750 as described generally above. The thumbnail display isprovided with the graphical representation of a “filmstrip” in whichbetween 10 and 11 individual thumbnails 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856,857, 858, 859, 860 and 860A, are displayed in a simulation of a filmreel with frame dividers 861 and perforated film edges. The specificlayout, appearance and number of frames used in the thumbnail display850 are all highly variable in alternate embodiments. In thisembodiment, each thumbnail 851-860 represents a low-resolution versionof a particular image frames in a sequence of images captured by thedetector, each representing a discrete image view of an object (abottle). The central thumbnail 856 has a highlighted border 862. Thisindicates that the particular thumbnail is displayed in the image viewwindow 780. As shown, the object image is an exemplary bottle with adefined outline and at least two surface features 872 and 874 that canbe used to form the basis for detection (or another machine visionoperation).

The thumbnail display 850 contains a slider 876 that can be moved(double arrow 878) to scroll through each of the thumbnails contained inthe overall buffer of image views. To the left of the thumbnail display,in filmstrip pane 848 is a selector 880. This selector provides a simpleset of control functions that can be applied to the filmstrip, in themanner of a conventional video camera, commonly familiar to a largenumber of users. The selector is moved between mode options using arotating knob 881 that selectively highlights the chosen mode. Thesefunctions are described in detail below.

Referring again to the main button pane 820, the buttons are arranged inboxes that correspond to discrete functions performed by the HMI andarranged from top-to-bottom in accordance with the steps performed by auser to run sequentially from connection, to setup, to configuration totest-and-run of a job. Each button calls a particular set of GUIelements. In general, the left button pane 820 and image view window 780are constant through all GUI screens. The uppermost Start box 822 isused to start the process. The first button 890 allows the user toconnect to a vision detector or to a detector simulation program. Notethat simulations are useful in providing fault diagnosis and technicalsupport, as they present a known set of parameters in the simulationthat allow technical support personnel to diagnose user errors insetting up the system. As discussed above, pressing the button 890 callsup box 836 with a list of all real and simulated vision detectors (alsoidentified by assignee's trademark “Checkers™”), and allows the user toselect one for connection and subsequent setup via the connect button841. The connection is reported in the connected-to dialog box 843. Thehighlighting of this button indicates that it has been activated, in themanner of a “real” light-up button on a control panel. The next button891 in box 822 allows the user to set up and train an image—for examplean image of a bottle 870 to be detected. The next button 892 allows theuser to set up external triggers (if desired), that can be used todetect the presence of parts—as described above.

The next, Set Up Sensors, box 824 includes buttons to adapt the sensorsto locate parts in an image field. The first button 893 allows the userto configure and test finding the part for which an image is trainedwithin a field of view. The second button 894 allows a user to configureand test the actual inspection of parts for selected characteristics(such as features 872 and 874).

The next, Configure Results, box 826 contains buttons that allow theuser to define how the inspection results are employed and where theresults will be output (e.g. to an alarm, a reject actuator, etc.).Hence, the first button 895 places the user into a logic window thatenables ladder logic schemes to be defined. The second button 896 isused by the user to define the outputs of logical decisions.

The final, Finish, box 828 includes a display and record button 897 thatpermits the user to customize which events are shown in the GUI displayand how these are recorded into files for later viewing. In general, theHMI allows viewed image sets to be recorded and replayed as desired fordiagnostic and other purposes. The final button in the vertical array isa job-run button 898 that provides runtime operation of a given job,once it has been configured and tested. Beneath the button pane 820 islocated a scroll tab 805 that lists name of the currently highlightedmode/mode button 890-898 and allows the user to toggle to the next orprevious button in the vertical sequence without need to click upon theactual button.

1. Filmstrip Control and Manipulation

As described generally above, the thumbnail or filmstrip pane 848 issimulative of a consumer video recording appliance. The functionsprovided are generally applicable during any part of setup mode (allbuttons except run 898). During a run mode (button 898), recordings aremade based upon specific, preprogrammed criteria (for example,continuous record of most recent frames; record detected, failed partsonly and the surrounding frames, etc.). In setup mode both runtimeimages from a live image feed can be recorded (a moving line) and imagesfrom a prerecorded file can be reviewed and manipulated. The number offrames recorded can be highly variable (for example, between 160 and16,000 frames, depending upon the system memory size (for examplebetween 2 and 200 megabytes).

The filmstrip selector 880, positioned to the left of the filmstrip 850,allows the recording of runtime image acquisition by selecting setting882 (e.g. the movie camera icon). The images are loaded into a videofile such as the readily available .avi format. The file is stored onthe HMI and can be retrieved, edited and e-mailed to others for thepurpose of, for example, quality control or technical support. Theselector 880 also allows the user to acquire particular images within afilmstrip recording by selecting the camera icon 883 (e.g. a stillcamera mode). The highlighted-border of the central thumbnail 856represents the present image in the image frame window 780. Thethumbnails surrounding this image 851-854 and 856-860 represent theimmediately preceding and immediately succeeding images in the sequence.The central thumbnail can be selected via the slider or by playbackusing the control buttons 750. The selector 880 also provides setting884 for external trigger mode. This setting allows the user to recordimages as a result of an externally triggered event. Pointing theselector 880 to the arrow icon 885 places the filmstrip and image framewindow 780 in playback mode, which allows the user to play back theimages in the filmstrips that have been composed and stored. It shouldbe clear that the selector modes 882 and 885 provide the user with ahighly familiar analog to the recording and playback modes on a videocamera, making the process more intuitive for occasional or noviceusers.

To this end, the control button region of the filmstrip pane 848includes a record button 879 that simulates a conventional videoappliance recorder. This button allows the user to capture a fragment ofan overall recorded filmstrip as it is presented in real time or from apreviously stored file. A recorded file can be stored in the HMI, byclicking the save icon 877 adjacent to the control buttons 750. Thisopens a conventional file-system window 900, shown in the fragmentaryview of the GUI 164 in FIG. 9. In this embodiment, the window 900includes a drop-down box 910 that allows the recorded file to be savedin an appropriate format, such as the HMI's “filmstrip” format (.film)912 using standard file-system commands. The .film format preserves theunique aspects of a filmstrip as organized by the HMI. This formatsupports metadata relating to the film strip frames' unique properties,which are usable when the strip is played on the GUI 164. Theseproperties can include data relating to frame rate, detectoridentification, etc., as described in further detail below). The box 910includes other format types into which a filmstrip can be saved,including a conventional (.avi) movie format and single-frame (.bmp)format (for still camera mode). Note that a number of specializedformats with particular features and options can be implemented (forexample .film1, .film2, etc.).

By clicking on the adjacent file folder icon 887, the user can open anexisting filmstrip. The folder toggles a conventional file-system window950 (FIG. 9A), which allows the user to access files 952 in anappropriate format. This window 950 also includes a drop-down box 960that allows retrieval based upon a file type (including the .filmformat) that is supported by the GUI 164.

As described above, the recording speed of a created film can be variedby selecting an appropriate film speed prior to pressing the recordbutton or during a save operation. A speed selection box 875 is employedto vary the size of the saved file. For example, the frames per secondcan be modified. The original video is provided from the sensor atnative speed. The box allows this frame rate to be approximatelypreserved in the saved file (High) or a number of alternate, lower ratespeeds can be chosen from the drop-down menu 1000. In this example, theuser selects Low 1010, which may correspond to 10 fps and the word Lowappears in the dialog box 1020 as the selected frame rate. The number ofspeed settings and how they are displayed is highly variable. A Highsetting having a rate of 500 fps or more can be employed, with othersettings providing various lower rates. Note that the actual content ofcaptured frames may depend upon the current mode of the sensor. Forexample, in self-trigger mode, the sensor captures the frames around thedetected presence of sensed parts, and not in any intervening deadspace.

The GUI 164 also provides an information button 873 that opens a window1100 (shown in FIG. 11), which lists information on a selected frame.This information is useful in determining the characteristics of thatframe. It can be based upon preprogrammed information stored in thesensor and input by the user via the GUI 164. For example, theinformation displayed 1110 may include the frame rate at which the datawas recorded, the status of the part (i.e. good part/defective part),the name of the job and the name of the sensor that acquired theoriginal images.

2. Highlighting Discrete Filmstrip Sections

The filmstrip can be provided with highlighting (for example, the borderof the central, target thumbnail 856) and color-coding to enhance theinformation displayed therein. Referring to FIG. 12, the exemplaryfilmstrip 850 is shown individually to illustrate this feature. Agrouping 1200 of frames (851-854) each include top and bottom borders1210, 1220 and side borders 1230, 1240 that are shaded to depicted adiscrete color, pattern or grayscale shade. Another grouping 1250 ofthumbnails (855-857) is shaded to represent a dissimilar color, patternor shade. Optionally, a third grouping 1260 of thumbnails (858-859) isshaded to represent a third dissimilar color, pattern or shade.Thumbnails 860 and 862 to the far right are depicted as unshaded and notfalling into a subject criteria. The number of colors, patterns and/orgrayscale shades employed is highly variable, and the number andlocation of shaded thumbnails displayed in FIG. 12 is only by way ofexample. While the color, etc. is applied to the entire surroundingborder of a thumbnail, so as to leave the central image unobscured, thecolor, etc. can be applied to a portion of the border or across all or aportion of the actual image ion alternate embodiments.

Each dissimilar color/pattern/shade represents a frame that satisfies(or fails to satisfy) a predetermined criteria. For example any redframes may represent an image that has been deemed to represent a failedor defective part, while green frames represent an image that satisfiesa passed part. Yellow frames may indicate a barely passed part. Othercolors, etc. may represent other criteria.

There are a variety of schemes that can be employed incoloring/patterning frames. In one scheme, each individual frame isprovided with a discrete code that indicates whether that framesatisfied the criteria. In this scheme, a user may have a passed part inwhich certain underlying frames barely pass or fail, but overall providea passing score for the part. The color of frames allows the user toquickly examine each passed, barely passed and/or failed frame todetermine if adjustments to the configuration of the sensor are needed.

In another scheme, all frames identified with a given passed, barelypassed or failed part are colored/patterned the same so that the usercan delineate the frame of a given part. It is contemplated thatappropriate buttons can be provided to select between schemes within thefilmstrip so that, for example, a group of frames all associated with afailed part (e.g. all red) can be clicked, and converted to reveal theirindividual status (e.g. some red, some green and some yellow—togetheradding up to a failing score). In an illustrative embodiment, clickingon a thumbnail of interest converts that frame into the highlighted (seethumbnail 856 in FIG. 8) frame and causes the enlarged image to bedisplayed in the GUI image view window 780.

Note that while the criteria of this example are pass/fail, thecoloring/patterning can also apply to other user-defined criteria. Forexample red may represent bottles with a “Cherry” on the label, whilegreen may represent an “Apple” on the label. To this end, it should benoted that individual sensors (Detector Class elements) can beresponsible for determining the presence or absence of individualfeatures, by applying appropriate configuration logic as describedbelow, the presence and/or absence of a feature reported by particularsensor can lead to different outcomes. For example, different types offailure can be reported. Also, where the choice is between (for example)cherry and apple, the presence of the feature at the appropriate sensorand/or absence at another can be used to make the determination of whichpart is present (cheery or apple).

The satisfaction of a particular criterion can also be displayed on apart-by-part basis in the above-described “LED” style indicator box 812at the top of the GUI 164. The user may define the criterion (e.g. partdetect), which is displayed in the box 814. Satisfaction of thecriterion by a part is illustrated by a green LED 813, while failure maycause the LED to glow red. Other, or different, LED colors can be usedto indicate various states. Likewise, a second LED 815 is provided andassociated criterion box 816 is provided to indicate a second related(or unrelated) criterion. In this example, the LED lights if any failedparts are detected. The number of LEDs and criterion boxes is highlyvariable. In general, the number and presentation of such indicatorsshould allow the user to quickly and easily ascertain status.

To this end, colors/patterns on filmstrips can be used to indicatesubcriteria. For example, an overall part failure may be based on one ofthree different failed components (or more). The colors/patterns on theindividual thumbnails can be used to indicate the specific, detectedreason(s) for failure, while the LED indicates the overall failed statusfor a part.

It should be clear that a variety of coloring/patterning schemes can beemployed according to alternate embodiments of this invention. Ingeneral, this invention contemplates that the thumbnails in thefilmstrip be provided with individual indicia that allow the thumbnailsto be identified as possessing certain sensed characteristics ofinterest to the user.

3. Vision Detector Setup Controls

With reference now to FIG. 13, once the user has connected to a live orsimulated sensor (as indicated by the box 1310 on top strip 810), theGUI allows the sensing parameters of that vision detector to be set. Inparticular, the user can assign Locators and sensors (Detectors from theabove-described Photos class) to a training image. The user toggles oneof the buttons in the Set-up box 824. The first button calls a screenthat allows locators to be placed on the image 870. This procedure isstraightforward. The second button, which has been activated, and ishighlighted in FIG. 13, generates boxes 1320 and 1322 in the lowercontrol pane 831 that assist the user in setting up sensors of varioustypes. Specific types of sensors are selected using buttons in thecentral box 1322, which include brightness 1324, contrast 1328 adiscrete pattern 1328. Other types of sensors can also be provided. Inthis example, the brightness button 1324 has been activated (and ishighlighted on the GUI), this allows produces a brightness adjustmentbox 1320 with controls specific to setting up the parameters of abrightness sensor on the image 870. The sensor is defined by the circle1330 placed on image at a desired location by the user. The size of thesensor is also chosen by the user—typically using a mouse control. Thesensor circle 1330 can be colored to define a particular type of sensorand/or can include an icon 1332 that indicates its type (or otherrelevant information about this sensor). The brightness sensor controlbox 1320 provides a number of user-friendly interface features. Theshape of the sensor is chosen using a pair of shape boxes 1340 and 1342.Two shapes for the sensor are selectable—a round shape (button 1340) anda square shape (button 1342). Other, or different, shapes (or auser-defined shape) can be included as options in alternate embodiments.The control box 1320 also includes an invert selector that allows a userto invert the detection so that, for example, the sensor functions as adarkness sensor within a bright field. The box 1320 contains a deletebutton 1346 that allows the user to remove an existing sensor from theimage. The name of the sensor currently being viewed (“Bright1” in thisexample) is listed in a box 1348.

The brightness sensor control box 1320 further includes a pair of sliderule-style adjustment knobs 1350 and 1352 that allow the user to adjustthe level of brightness detected and the range of brightness detected,respectively. The brightness knob 1350 includes a slide adjuster 1354that moves along a scale 1356. The left hand side of the scale iscolored red, while the right hand side is colored green in this example.Other sets of dissimilar colors or dissimilar patterns can be used inalternate implementations. This knob 1350 sets the level of brightness afeature within the sensor 872 that will trigger a positive reading. Apositive reading is reported by the simulated LED 1358, which glowsgreen (or another color) when the sufficient brightness is detected.

The lower, brightness range knob 1352 includes two separate sliders 1360and 1362 that can be slid by the user independently along a scale 1364.The scale includes a generalized graphical representation of a gradientthat extends from dark on the left side to light on the right side. Therange defines the level of brightness in which the sensor will operate,rejecting either excessively bright or excessively dark subjects. Therange button sliders 1360 and 1362 are tied to a central graphicalpattern that defines a pair of right triangles 1370 and 1372,respectively. The inner corners of each triangle intersect with thecenter bar of the respective slider. Thus as the sliders move along thescale, the triangles grow or shrink providing additional visual feedbackto the user.

The controls provided from contrast sensors (activated by button 1326)and pattern sensors (activated by button 1328) function similarly tothose described for the brightness sensor. For example, the contrastsensor control can include slide knobs for contrast level and range. Thepattern sensor contains various buttons relative top training a patternfrom the image 870.

The GUI display of FIG. 13 also shows the Statistics tab 837 in rightinformation pane 830. This tab has been configured by the user tocontain two boxes, although the precise makeup of the tab can be variedto provide statistics on events that are meaningful to the user. In thisexample, the tab 837 contains a box 1380 with a listing of outputs andthe number of discrete events counted for each—for example each partdetect event. The tab 837 also includes an exemplary box 1382 showingevents related to external trigger activities. Note that the number ofpart detect events counted depends upon whether the vision detector isplaced into internal trigger mode or free-running mode. In internaltrigger mode, the detector analyzes a group of frames in which a part ispresent and assigns a single part detect event to the entire group.Conversely, in free-running mode, each frame in which a part is presentis asserted by the detector as a part detect event.

4. Vision Detector Configuration and Logic

Once appropriate locators and sensors have been set up and adjusted, theuser then generates the appropriate relationships between detection andthe results of such detection. Each of the buttons in the ConfigureResults box 826 is, thus, activated in turn. Referring now to the GUI162 in FIG. 14, when the user activates and highlights the Set-Up Logicbutton 895, he or she is presented with a logic programming field 1400within the image view window 780. This screen and applicable GUIbuttons/information from the lower control pane 831 can be expanded to alarger size as shown in FIG. 14A by clicking upon the logic screenbutton 1400 in the main GUI screen 162. In this enlarged arrangement,the programming field 1400 takes up the entire upper window, while thescreen control pane 1431 resides below the field 1400. The screencontrol pane 1431 is similar in appearance and layout to GUI controlpane 831. It includes a text window with appropriate commentary 1433 onthe current actions available to the user; a logic control button set1426 (now with a Close Window button 1480, that returns the user to themain GUI screen); a Contact assignment window 1442; and an smaller imagewindow 1470. The upper programming field 1400 in the screen allows theuser to coordinate brightness, contrast, pattern and other types ofsensors with outputs that can include alarms, reject actuator controls,and other responses. A version of this programming approach is describedin the above-incorporated METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VISUAL DETECTION ANDINSPECTION OF OBJECTS. The embodiment of FIG. 14 includes features thatfurther enhance the capabilities of the logic programming interface. Thewindow allows the user to build and display an overall logic diagram foreach sensor that has been set up in the job.

Referring jointly to both the image pane view of FIG. 14 and thealternative enlarged-screen view of FIG. 14A, the logic implementationincludes three default logic rungs, the All Pass rung 1410, the Any Failrung 1412 and Part Detect rung 1414. These provide users with a basicset of detection tools that can be employed without furthermodification. In essence, the All Pass result is an ANDing of allsensors and the Any Fail result is an ORing of all sensors. The PartDetect result provides a value by which each part can be identified.However, the logic can be expanded by the user into complexrelationships with a large number of variously combined inputs andresulting outputs.

In the example of FIGS. 14 and 14A, the user has assigned a new rung tothe ladder by clicking the Add Rung button 1422, which resides with aset of logic control buttons 1420 in the control pane 831 (FIG. 14), andat the bottom left of the large screen control pane 1431 (FIG. 14A).These buttons allow the user to add, edit and delete the logicalrelationships between sensors and display common schematic icons thatshould be familiar to both novice and advanced users. A new rung isinitially established as a straight logical connection between laddersides 1430 and 1432. In this example, the user has clicked the Add Rungbutton 1422 (which displays a ladder rung) to create a new rung 1416.Each rung may be provided with contacts that define the inputs fromsensors and other data sources. The contacts are appended to the rungusing the Add Contact button 1424 (shown as a pair of confrontingcontact plates). In this example, the user has added two contacts 1436and 1438. These contacts are each assigned to predetermined sensors,inputs or outputs that are listed in the drop down menu 1440 in aContact box 1442 to the right of the button set 1420 in each screen(FIGS. 14 and 14A). The contact is displayed on the rung with the nameassigned sensor or other data source as shown. The contact may benormally open, or inverted to be normally closed, depending upon thesetting in the contact box 1442. See the respective normally open andnormally closed settings 1510 and 1512 in FIG. 15. When a contact isnormally open an input high value for the sensor triggers a high value(e.g. the contact is closed to allow high value to pass). Conversely, alow value sent to a normally open contact, leaves it open, causing a lowvalue at its output. When a contact is normally closed, a “high” resultbecomes a low value and vice versa. The availability of normally closed(inverted) contacts is useful in defining various logical outcomes andwhen combining with other inputs. A normally closed contact may also beplaced on the rung by clicking the Add Normally Closed Contact button1426 (shown as a contact with a slash through it). A normally closedcontact is depicted in the ladder field with a corresponding slash—suchas that shown for the All Pass contact 1450 on rung 1412. Note that thiscontact is, in fact, the output coil from the rung 1410. Outputs can bebuilt-into new rungs as contacts, thereby allowing large logicalrelationships to be created. In this case, by inverting the high datavalue if all sensors pass, any failed sensors cause this value to gohigh, providing the desired output for the result Any Fail. This resultis represented by the default Any Fail coil 1452.

Each rung includes a coil that defines an output or result of the rung'sinputs. By way of example, in the first rung 1410, the contacts for thesensors Bright1 (1454) and Contrast1 (1456) have been logically ANDed byplacing them in line with each other. Hence, both Bright1 and Contrast1must be high to allow the All Pass coil 1458 to signal high. The rungline segments between contacts and coils can be color coded so that thehigh/low status of a given contact can be determined. For example if therung is green across the entire ladder, then the contacts are bothsignaling high, and the output is high. If a contact is low, then therung segment may be red. If a contact has no signal, then the rung mayremain unhighlighted. In the user-defined rung a generic coil Coil0(1462) is defined. As described below, this can be modified by the user.

With reference also to the enlarged screen of FIG. 15, the user candefine OR relationships on rungs by adding an OR branch. The Add ORbutton 1428, shown as a branch, is clicked to add a similarly appearingOR branch of rung segments to the selected rung. In FIG. 15, an ORbranch 1520 and the contact Bright1 (1438) has been inserted on thebranch. As shown, the user can place the contact Input1 (1436) withinthe OR relationship by placing it into the rung segment that is enclosedbetween the OR branches. Notably, each contact, such as the depicted,newly-added Contrast1 contact 1528 can be highlighted (1530) by clickingupon it. This process (double-clicking, for example) opens up alocalized drop-down menu 1532 that reveals the properties associatedwith that contact and allows those properties to be changed based upon amenu. The menu allows assignment (Assign Contact 1540) of a sensor orinput source to the contact; inversion (Invert Contact 1542) of thecontact (e.g. from normally open to normally closed and vice versa);cutting (Cut Contact 1544) of the contact; copying (Copy Contact 1546)of the contact; pasting (Paste Contact Before 1548 and Paste ContactAfter 1550) of a copy of a contact to the rung either before or afterthe subject contact; or deleting (Delete Contact 1552) of the contactfrom the rung. Contacts can also be deleted using the Delete button 1551in the contact box 1442. The Assign Contact menu item 1540 opens afurther menu 1570 containing all known sensors, inputs and outputs. Thismenu allows the user to assign any choice appearing on the list to theselected contact. It should be clear that the ability to quickly selecta new contact from a menu of available inputs and outputs provides ahighly intuitive interface to users, rendering the ladder logicprogramming technique more accessible to novices and those unfamiliarwith computer programming.

Referring now to the enlarged screen of FIG. 16, coils, representingoutputs, are assigned similarly to contacts. A coil assignment box 1630is called up by clicking on the coil (1462). The box 1630 indicates thecurrent name for the highlighted coil or allows the user to create aname for the output—in this example “Top Pass” This name can be editedor deleted (delete button 1636). In general, each ring includes adiscrete coil. Two rungs cannot share the same coil name as this cause aconflict in outcomes. However, any coil can be repeatedly assigned as acontact in any rung, any number of times.

Referring generally to FIGS. 14, 14A, 15 and 16, the image window 1470at the lower right of each control pane 831, 1431 reveals an image 870corresponding to that appearing in the image frame window 780. Thus,when the GUI 164 is operating in video or snapshot mode, the image 870is a live image captured by a selected sensor to which the GUI iscurrently connected. In filmstrip mode, the displayed image is a targetimage from the filmstrip thumbnails. Notably, by clicking on a giveninput (Bright1, for example in FIGS. 14 and 14A), the image portion thatcontains this element (sensor circle 1330, located on image feature 872)is displayed in the image window 1470. This allows the user to easilytrack and correlate actual sensor elements with the viewed or recordedimage, thereby making programming with these elements easier andmore-intuitive. As shown in FIG. 15, the user highlights the Contrast1sensor 1528, which reveals a sensor circle 1550 centered around theimage feature 874. When a particular contact is highlighted, the imagetypically shifts within the window 1470 to center the selected sensorelement within its field of view. The size of the window 1470 is highlyvariable. It is typically sized small enough so as to allow room tobuild the ladder relationship, but large enough to reveal the sensorelement on an image at a viewable size. In this example, clicking onContrast1 1528 causes the image 870 to re-center upon the contrastsensor 1550. The previously selected Bright1 feature 1330 (shown inphantom) is still partially displayed within the window. In someembodiments, all sensors on an image may continue to be displayed, whilethe selected one is centered. In other embodiments, only the highlightedcontact's feature is displayed in the image window 1470. Note the“contrast” icon appearing above the element 1550.

5. Vision Detector Output Setup

Once the logic rungs are configured, the user can close the logic screen(close button 1480) and set up the outputs that will be enabled by thelogical results. Reference is now made to the GUI 164 as shown in FIG.17. The user clicks the Set Up Outputs button 896 that succeeds the SetUp Logic button 895 in the Configure Results box 826. This buttongenerates the Output box 1710 in the lower control pane 831. Within thisbox, the user is presented with a column of boxes 1712, each having adrop-down menu 1714 that allows the user to select from the list of coilnames from the logic established from the previous logic-building step.Each coil can be assigned to an output, herein simply identified asOutput 0, Output 1, Output 2, etc. Any non-selected output is identifiedas “Disabled.” When programmed into a vision detector, the output causesthe vision detector to signal or perform a given function. That functioncan be achieved by a onboard component of the detector, such as an alarmbuzzer or light, or by an interconnected component, such as a rejectactuator or conveyor line stop-switch. Each output is assigned a delay,based upon an adjacent Delay box in a column 1716. Each delay box allowsthe user to increment or decrement the delay using a conventionalup/down arrow as shown. The delay is based upon preselected time unitsthat can be chosen from milliseconds (as shown, seconds or anotheruser-selected time metric. The duration of the output is chosen usingincrements of milliseconds (other timescales are expressly contemplated)in the adjacent boxes of a Duration column 1720. A conventional up/downarrow provides easy adjustment in predetermined increments.

Once set, the operation of the outputs can be monitored in theinformation pane 830, by opening the Monitor tab 835 as shown. This tabdisplays a list 1730 of predefined Inputs (triggers), each illuminatinga simulated LED, when active. These triggers are set up in theconnection step via box 822 and button 892. The monitor tab 835 alsodisplays a list 1740 of selected Outputs. Active outputs are indicatedby illuminating adjacent, simulated LEDs 1742. In this example, theselected Outputs listed are Top Pass 1744 and Any Fail 1746. The LED1748 associated with Any Fail is illuminated, indicating the existenceof a failed part. This arrangement allows a user to quickly set upappropriate outputs and monitor results, either in real time, or duringthe playback of a recorded filmstrip. A Test Outputs 1750 button allowsthe user to run through the program and check the setup for properoperation.

5. Vision Detector Display and Record/Run Mode

Once outputs are set, the user can click the Display and Record button897 in the lowermost, Finish box 828 of the setup pane 820. This buttongenerates the Display and Record box 1810 in the control pane 831. Thisis an option that allows the user to display and make recordings of theimages of certain viewed parts during runtime operation. In general,users may want to limit the display and recording only parts that fail(or fail in a certain way) so as to focus-in on the reasons for a givenpart failure, or to isolate a programming error. The box 1810 presentsthe user with a menu 1812 that allows him or her to select the criteria(output) that will cause a part image to be displayed during runtime. Inthis example, the output All Pass is chosen. A record menu 1840 allowsthe user to select the recording parameters used during runtimeoperation. For example, the window is set to most recent, so that themost recent captured images are recorded, up to a maximum duration. Athird menu 1850 allows the user to select stored recordings. The menuindicates that none are currently available.

The window 1810 also includes two boxes entitled LED 1 and LED 2, whichallow the user to assign each of the two simulated LEDs 813 and 815 inthe upper strip 812 to a respective output. Each box contains adrop-down menu (1862 for LED 1) that contains all available outputs. Inthis example LED 1 is assigned to Part Detect. This is indicated in thetext 814 adjacent to LED 1 (813). Likewise, the user has assigned theoutput Any Fail to LED 2 (815) and the adjacent text 816 indicates thisassignment. LED 1 and LED 2 provide a readily viewed indicator of thestatus of two outputs. These outputs are completely user-defined, andcan represent any desired status including the pass or failure of parts,or differentiation between different types of parts (e.g. cherry andapple). While the GUI of this embodiment supports at least two outputindicators in the upper strip 812, the number of viewed statusindicators which the GUI provides is highly variable.

Once the runtime display parameters and recording parameters have beenconfigured, the user can click the final button in the setup pane820—the Run My Job button 898, which activates runtime operation. Theupper strip 810 then indicates Run Mode. At this time, the GUI displaysselected image frames and records those frames for playback on afilmstrip, or another format.

It should be clear that the foregoing description of the above-describedGUI that is applicable to a machine vision detector system and othermachine vision systems affords the user a versatile and relativelyintuitive vehicle for configuring and testing such systems.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrativeembodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. For example,the layout and titles of the GUI windows, panes, boxes and buttons arehighly variable. The sequential nature of the setup and run buttons canbe varied to accommodate different sequences of steps employed in othertypes of machine vision systems. Likewise additional buttons used tocall up other functions that are unique to a particular type of machinevision system can be added where appropriate (and buttons that areunneeded in different types of machine vision can be omitted). Also,while the setup and run buttons are arrayed in a vertical column asidean image frame window herein, they can be provided across the bottom ortop in a horizontal arrangement. Similarly any GUI pane or window can berelocated as desired to provide further convenience for the user. Boxesmay be substituted with separate panes or screens the “pop-up” whencalled for where appropriate so as to provide the user with furtherworking room (such as the Ladder Logic screen). Furthermore, it iscontemplated that any function or component herein can be implementedusing electronic hardware, software consisting of program instructionsexecuting on a computer, or a combination of hardware and software.Accordingly, this description is meant to be taken only by way ofexample, and not to otherwise limit the scope of the invention.

1. A graphical user interface (GUI) for setup and testing of machinevision systems comprising: an image frame pane in which recorded andreal time images of an object acquired by an interconnected visionsystem are displayed as discrete frames; at least one box in which theuser performs interface functions in connection with each of a pluralityof different and discrete procedures to set up and run a machine visionjob using the interconnected vision system; and a plurality of buttons,arranged in a sequential order across a portion of the GUI, the buttonsdefining each of the plurality of different and discrete procedures, thesequential order corresponding to a predetermined order in which theprocedures occur to set up and run a machine vision job.
 2. The GUI asset forth in claim 1 wherein the buttons include a first set of buttonsthat provide interface functions in the box so that the user canidentify the machine vision job, connect to the vision system, and setup imaging functions in the vision system.
 3. The GUI as set forth inclaim 2 wherein the buttons include a second set of buttons that provideinterface functions in the box so that the user can train the visionsystem to locate an object and identify predetermined features on theobject.
 4. The GUI as set forth in claim 3 wherein the second set ofbuttons provides controls that allow the user to select locators thatallow the object to be located in the image field of view and sensorsthat allow predetermined parameters of the features of the object to beidentified by the vision system and a resulting high or low value to beassigned to the results.
 5. The GUI as set forth in claim 3 wherein thebuttons include a third set of buttons that provide interface functionsso that the user can configure rungs of ladder logic that uses resultsprovided by the vision system on the features as contacts on the rungsto provide discrete high or low output coils for each of the rungs. 6.The GUI as set forth in claim 5 wherein the output coils are constructedand arranged to be provided as contacts on predetermined of the rungs.7. The GUI as set forth in claim 6 wherein the rungs of ladder logic aredisplayed on a screen having an image window that presents a thumbnailof a subject image of the object including graphical representations ofsensors associated with selected of the contacts, wherein highlightingeach of the contacts causes the window to display the associatedgraphical representation of the sensor associated with the contact. 8.The GUI as set forth in claim 6 wherein each of the contacts isconstructed and arranged so as to be highlighted and thereby display amenu of properties, the menu of properties being selectable so as tochange the properties of the highlighted contact.
 9. The GUI as setforth in claim 8 wherein the menu of properties includes inversion of acontact, association of a contact with sensors or another input sourceand deletion of a contact from a selected of the rungs.
 10. The GUI asset forth in claim 6 further comprising an OR button that applies an ORbranch to a selected of the rungs.
 11. The GUI as set forth in claim 5wherein the third set of buttons provide interface functions in the boxso that the user can configure outputs that interconnect with alarms,actuators and physical devices based upon the coils.
 12. The GUI as setforth in claim 11 wherein the buttons include a fourth set fourth set ofbuttons having interface functions so that the user can defineparameters of image frame recordings associated with a runtime operationof the job and run the job.
 13. The GUI as set forth in claim 11 whereinthe buttons include a fourth set fourth set of buttons having interfacefunctions so that the user can define visual signals that appear on theinterface to indicate a predetermined status based upon selected of thecoils.
 14. The GUI as set forth in claim 13 wherein the visual signalscomprise simulated LEDs and a title of the predetermined status adjacentto each of the simulated LEDs.
 15. The GUI as set forth in claim 14wherein the simulated LEDs are located on a strip overlying the imageframe window.
 16. A method for setting up and testing a machine visionsystem using graphical user interface (GUI) comprising the steps of:displaying, in an image frame pane, recorded and real time images of anobject acquired by an interconnected vision system as discrete frames;performing interface functions in connection with each of a plurality ofdifferent and discrete procedures to set up and run a machine vision jobusing the interconnected vision system; and activating a plurality ofbuttons, arranged in a sequential order across a portion of the GUI, thebuttons defining each of the plurality of different and discreteprocedures, the sequential order corresponding to a predetermined orderin which the procedures occur to set up and run a machine vision job.17. A graphical user interface (GUI) for setup and testing of machinevision systems comprising: an image frame pane in which recorded andreal time images of an object acquired by an interconnected visionsystem are displayed as discrete frames; a filmstrip window thatdisplays individual thumbnail images of a series of time-basedsequential image frames of the recorded images acquired by theinterconnected vision system; wherein a first group of the thumbnailimages are highlighted in a first discrete color or pattern so as toidentify a first predetermined detected feature on the object inconnection with the recorded images associated with the thumbnailimages.
 18. The GUI as set forth in claim 17 wherein a second group ofthe thumbnail images are highlighted in a second discrete color orpattern dissimilar from the first discrete color or pattern so as toidentify a second predetermined detected feature on the object inconnection with the recorded images associated with the thumbnailimages.
 19. The GUI as set forth in claim 18 wherein at least one of thefirst group and the second group represent all images associated withthe object.
 20. The GUI as set forth in claim 18 wherein at least one ofthe first group and the second group comprise only images determined tohave the first predetermined detected feature and second predetermineddetected feature, respectively.
 21. The GUI as set forth in claim 18wherein the first predetermined feature and second predetermined featureeach respectively indicate a first type of object and a second type ofobject.
 22. The GUI as set forth in claim 18 wherein the firstpredetermined feature and second predetermined feature each respectivelyindicate a failed object and a passing object.